6 ms·

I wanted to like podcasts, but never found one that wasn't either incredibly boring or incredibly grating to listen to. Maybe I'm not the target audience, but

I wanted to like podcasts, but never found one that wasn't either incredibly boring or incredibly grating to listen to. Maybe I'm not the target audience, but I'm rarely if ever interested in the speaker of whatever information I'm trying to consume, and podcasts' focus on guests (and hosts) always came off as self-aggrandizing and people speaking just to hear themselves speak. Especially with very little editing (uhs, pauses, and general dysfluency) and/or preparation (winding conversations with a lot of fluff instead of a structured outline), I'd almost always just prefer to listen to a narrated book or textbook on whatever topic I'm interested in.

JauntyHatAngle 4y ago
I think different formats have different propensities. Your problems with podcasts appear more related to propensity than inherent format issues - that is, books too can come off as self aggrandizing, fluff and winding, but you have found mode examples that don't do this perhaps? Perhaps one thing inherent to podcasts vs books is that you can simply skip sections and skim past the content you find not worth your time, where podcasts are harder to do this without missing your spot, etc. Podcasts like 99% invisible I find hit the right balance, but again, definitely have more emphasis on interviews than pure factual info compared to books. But I think that's kind of normal, as podcasts do suit discussion and interviews better than a more straight facts approach. Still, I feel the points you've listed, while valid, are not always the case and like most mediums, you can find examples that would suit your style.
paulpauper 4y ago
It works if the guest is discussing a topic that interests you and the information cannot be readily found elsewhere, because it's his unique story or perspective.
trog 4y ago
I was like this until I found the NPR Planet Money podcast. I am not 100% sure why I found this so engaging but here are my guesses: 1. They cover a subject I was interested in (economics), but knew basically nothing about. This made it easier to listen to as I found I didn't space out when they were talking about things I already knew. 2. Nice, tight editing and good production. No hosts blathering on for hours - they keep it short and to the point. Most episodes are 20 minutes and easy to get through.
- null0ranje 4y ago
  I used to listen to Planet Money, but it’s devolved over the same dumbed-down drivel that dominates NPR these days: “Money has always been used to buy goods, but did you know you can also use it to buy services? Here’s some pop culture reference comparison to fake a narrative.” I think the show started suffering when NPR turned every show into a podcast; it removes the ability to cater to a more focused audience because you have to waste half the show doing background.
  - nostromo 4y ago
    I’m glad I’m not alone thinking this. 10 years ago it was the best of the best. Now it tries way to hard to be cute and “engaging.” I think media types decided everything needed to be like Vox Explainers, so now everything sounds like it’s designed for primary school students.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
  - skrblr 4y ago
    Completely agree. More or Less and Business Daily (both BBC) have replaced Planet Money for me in the last few years.
  - trog 4y ago
    I think that's a bit unfair - I think they're taking a very dry, boring subject and trying to make it engaging and interesting to a wider audience. They are sometimes going to err on the side of too generic, but most of the actual stories are still quite interesting, at least to me, who is coming into economic stuff very late in life and has very little grounding.
akkad33 4y ago
Podcasts are not a good format for consuming serious information, at least in my experience. Neither are audiobooks. The problem with podcasts is they are light on real content and if it's on a technical topic and the format is having a guest be interviewed on it, the quality of information depends on the quality of questions and most people are not good at coming up interesting questions on unfamiliar topics on the spot. So you get very superficial questions and equally superficial answers. But podcasts are great for entertainment and zoning out. And for lonely people it's great to hear people talking. Darknet diaries is a good one though I don't listen consistently
- timeon 4y ago
  > not a good format for consuming serious information Yes, podcasts are reminding me 'the age of the feuilleton' from Hesses's Glass Bead Game.
- Slippery_John 4y ago
  I disagree, though it depends on the circumstances in which you're consuming them. If you're listening while you're doing something that is mentally engaging then of course it will be hard to absorb the information. But I'm not exactly taxing my brain when I'm walking my dog or sitting on the porch drinking coffee.
- theshrike79 4y ago
  There are good ones, but they require a proper host and environment. Steve O has had some interesting people open up about their issues, same with Jon Bernthal. Especially his episode with Shia LaBeouf was amazing. But these people are rare. They devolve too often into the host fawning over the guest. Nerdist podcast started doing this at one point.
  - vchynarov 4y ago
    +1 on Jon Bernthal. I was very skeptical at first but he gets very unique guests such ex-gang members and policemen. Many popular podcasts just have guests who are obviously trying to promote a new Netflix special or book. He stutters and the outcome isn’t that polished but if you can adapt to that his podcast feels very authentic.
glenngillen 4y ago
I quite enjoyed Swindled. Not exactly on the lighter side, but usually stories I’ve never heard of before. With the type of research and structure you mentioned.
wink 4y ago
I noticed that I like podcasts just how I like blogs. Even if it's objectively great (as decided by the masses), I probably don't like it and can't stand listening to it for long. But if I stumble upon something I like to read or listen to, then I'll follow that blog/podcast for many years. I would in general even go so far as saying that listening to people talking is not my medium of choice (I also don't like audio books) - but I'd say I'm actually a fan of a select of few ones.
dieselgate 4y ago
My favorite podcasts are science Friday or stuff I’d hear on public radio for a short bit while driving. One-off interview podcasts can be good if looking more into a specific person but in general many podcasts seem like/wanna be a cult of personality
spiffytech 4y ago
Interestingly, these are exactly the traits that make podcasts appealing to me. It's fun to hear people talking about what they're interested in, or I get to hear people's personal experiences on a subject I care about (entrepreneurship, neurodivergence, software development). I'm here less for structured content than to expand my perspective on general experience and challenges of being in a given situation. For what it's worth, there are also lots of other formats besides "two dudes/dudettes talking": scripted drama, documentary, unscripted/situational comedy. I even listen to a guy critique classic computer science research papers.
- digdugdirk 4y ago
  Ooo... What podcast reviews classic compsci research papers?
  - spiffytech 4y ago
    The Eric Normand Podcast, previously titled Thoughts on Functional Programming. Despite the name, he also dives into e.g., some classic OOP material too, as well as general programming paradigm commentary. https://ericnormand.me/podcast https://ericnormand.me/podcast A couple episodes you may be interested in: "In this episode, I excerpt from and comment on Allen Newell's and Herbert Simon's 1975 ACM Turing Award Lecture." https://ericnormand.me/podcast/computer-science-as-empirical-inquiry-symbols-and-search https://ericnormand.me/podcast/computer-science-as-empirical... "In this first episode of season 3, we analyze a great paper called Lisp: A language for stratified design. The paper asks the question "What is Lisp good for?" https://ericnormand.me/podcast/lisp-a-language-for-stratified-design https://ericnormand.me/podcast/lisp-a-language-for-stratifie... "We read one of the great articles by Alan Kay, inventor of Smalltalk, called The Early History of Smalltalk." https://ericnormand.me/podcast/the-early-history-of-smalltalk https://ericnormand.me/podcast/the-early-history-of-smalltal...
    - digdugdirk 4y ago
      Awesome, thanks!
sharkbird2 4y ago
For me, the lack of editing, scripting and structure is exactly what I find refreshing about podcasts. They feel more natural, more flawed, more raw, but therefore also more honest and more human. But to each their own. Not saying there's anything wrong at all with disliking podcasts for exactly these reasons, they're just not for everyone I suppose.
- theshrike79 4y ago
  There is a limit to "natural". If the hosts even slightly stay on topic, a few umms and aahs don't bother me. But when I start listening to something titled "X & Y talk about Z" and they tangent off to A, B and C. I just stop listening. My pet peeve is shows that have interviews with people and preface it with 30 minutes of "banter" that doesn't interest anyone who hasn't listened to the previous 420 episodes. Just have one episode with the catch-up part and one with just the interview, please.
  - DoughnutHole 4y ago
    > My pet peeve is shows that have interviews with people and preface it with 30 minutes of "banter" that doesn't interest anyone who hasn't listened to the previous 420 episodes. Repeat listeners are most podcast producers' bread and butter, and those listeners tend to be invested in the hosts, and typically enjoy the banter. It's sort of the reverse of radio. In a radio show you want to pander to the widest audience - every show must stand alone and can't rely on the audience's familiarity with the host or past content. In a podcast there's no one tuning in at random because it's something interesting that's "on" at the time that they happen to be listening, so podcasters get by from cultivating and pandering to a dedicated fanbase, who then tend to enjoy content that benefits from a deep familiarity with the show. It sounds like you'd most enjoy "podcasts" that are really recordings of radio shows (99% Invisible, the many NPR podcasts etc).
rsynnott 4y ago
> podcasts' focus on guests (and hosts) Not all podcasts do that, though. I listen to about ten podcasts fairly regularly; one ("Behind the Bastards") has regular guests, though their purpose is largely to have someone for the host to tell a story to, two ("The Rest is History" and "The Rest is Politics") have occasional expert guests, on perhaps 10% of episodes, the remainder don't have guests at all.
theshrike79 4y ago
I don't listen to off the cuff podcasts at all. I used to listen to Tank Riot, for example. They had really interesting topics. But then it devolved into "we haven't seen each other for a month, so let's catch up while we're recording" and they got into endless unrelated tangents. My current list is only well-edited and produced stuff - No Such Thing as a Fish (facts, trivia, comedy) - 20kHz - audio production and sounds in general - 99 Percent Invisible - random trivia and deep-dives - More or Less - analysing statistics - Cautionary Tales - historical failures, they have actual radio play style stuff with actual name actors (Helena Bonham-Carter for example) And stuff I listen to on the background and usually fall asleep to: - Crowd Science - people as questions about science and the host interviews people who know about it - Every Little Thing - More random trivia stuff - 30 Animals that Made us Smarter - exactly what it says on the tin My tolerance for "let's turn on the mic and chat for three hours without any plan and publish it as a podcast" is pretty close to zero.
- petepete 4y ago
  - In Our Time (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl) - nearly 1,000 episodes since the late 90s, covering history, science and literature. Different expert panel every week with some amazing reoccurring guests (Ian Stewart, Martin Palmer, Mary Beard, Angie Hobbs, Paul Cartledge, Caroline Crawford).
  - zoltanse 4y ago
    Definitely my favourite podcast. The only other comparable one Revolutions by Mike Duncan.
    - kzrdude 4y ago
      Revolutions podcast was too in-depth for me (think, hundreds of episodes for each revolution). But I've been listening to his podcast-closing appendix (12 appendix episodes, that tells you something about being verbose), and it's fun :)
  - pjc50 4y ago
dopidopHN 4y ago
in some places radios is still done by professionals, and it shows. In the US outside of NPR I stuggle to find anything of values. Example : Most show on France Culture.
massysett 4y ago
I listen to podcasts that take a lot of production. One favorite of mine is "American History Tellers." It is well edited and tightly scripted and thoroughly researched. Check out a big podcast producer like Wondery. They approach podcasts with production and professionalism. It takes a team to produce a good podcast. If a professional podcast is like network TV, the podcasts you're describing are like the old public access channel on cable. They're both the same medium, sure, but they're in different leagues entirely. I don't listen to the podcasts with a random person with a mic chatting about what he thinks is interesting; that would indeed be boring and a waste of time.
nmcfarl 4y ago
I could not get into podcasts until I started listening at 1.5x. That changed everything for me, the information density was finally high enough that they were worth listening to, and over time I upped the speed to 2.5x (mostly). Also I’ve started listening audiobooks faster (though not as fast), and that has greatly increased my consumption of audiobooks, even when measured in hours listened. If you’ve not tried it I would heartily recommend it - I really didn’t think it would matter before I tried it.
- bilsbie 4y ago
  It would be so cool in the future if AI could predict which parts are harder to understand and which parts are fluff and dynamically adjust the speed for you. I’d love 50% speed for tough concepts but 300% for the banter and their dumb stories. Maybe a product idea actually? Feel free to run with it.
  - amelius 4y ago
    And auto-rewind when your eyes glaze over.
  - jononomo 4y ago
    50% speed is impossible to listen to. It will not help your comprehension.
    - bilsbie 4y ago
      Maybe just strategic pauses then.
    - drusepth 4y ago
      I think there's large segments of many podcasts that'd be nice to just get through, where comprehension isn't inherently necessary. :)
- jononomo 4y ago
  I've begun doing this as well. Also, as soon as one of the guests makes some off-topic joke and I sense that there is going to be some banter before they get back to the point I just hit the fast-forward-30-seconds button.
ChicagoBoy11 4y ago
I'd give "In Our Time" from the BBC, and Econtalk, by Ross Roberts, a try if I were you. They both follow the traditional podcast format with a host and guest, but there is a lot of work done by the hosts ahead of time to ensure your time is well spent. Definitely high-density content.
brightball 4y ago
I never listened at all until last year when somebody pointed me to Darknet Diaries. Now I’m completely hooked. It’s hard to find good ones though. I haven’t had as much luck.
layer8 4y ago
In addition to the In Our Time suggestion by a sibling comment, I can recommend Sean Carroll’s Mindscape podcast (https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/). And for some good fun (and some occasional new insight), the Soft Skills Engineering podcast (https://softskills.audio/ https://softskills.audio/).

JauntyHatAngle 4y ago

I think different formats have different propensities. Your problems with podcasts appear more related to propensity than inherent format issues - that is, books too can come off as self aggrandizing, fluff and winding, but you have found mode examples that don't do this perhaps? Perhaps one thing inherent to podcasts vs books is that you can simply skip sections and skim past the content you find not worth your time, where podcasts are harder to do this without missing your spot, etc. Podcasts like 99% invisible I find hit the right balance, but again, definitely have more emphasis on interviews than pure factual info compared to books. But I think that's kind of normal, as podcasts do suit discussion and interviews better than a more straight facts approach. Still, I feel the points you've listed, while valid, are not always the case and like most mediums, you can find examples that would suit your style.

paulpauper 4y ago

It works if the guest is discussing a topic that interests you and the information cannot be readily found elsewhere, because it's his unique story or perspective.

trog 4y ago

I was like this until I found the NPR Planet Money podcast. I am not 100% sure why I found this so engaging but here are my guesses: 1. They cover a subject I was interested in (economics), but knew basically nothing about. This made it easier to listen to as I found I didn't space out when they were talking about things I already knew. 2. Nice, tight editing and good production. No hosts blathering on for hours - they keep it short and to the point. Most episodes are 20 minutes and easy to get through.

null0ranje 4y ago
I used to listen to Planet Money, but it’s devolved over the same dumbed-down drivel that dominates NPR these days: “Money has always been used to buy goods, but did you know you can also use it to buy services? Here’s some pop culture reference comparison to fake a narrative.” I think the show started suffering when NPR turned every show into a podcast; it removes the ability to cater to a more focused audience because you have to waste half the show doing background.
- nostromo 4y ago
  I’m glad I’m not alone thinking this. 10 years ago it was the best of the best. Now it tries way to hard to be cute and “engaging.” I think media types decided everything needed to be like Vox Explainers, so now everything sounds like it’s designed for primary school students.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- skrblr 4y ago
  Completely agree. More or Less and Business Daily (both BBC) have replaced Planet Money for me in the last few years.
- trog 4y ago
  I think that's a bit unfair - I think they're taking a very dry, boring subject and trying to make it engaging and interesting to a wider audience. They are sometimes going to err on the side of too generic, but most of the actual stories are still quite interesting, at least to me, who is coming into economic stuff very late in life and has very little grounding.

akkad33 4y ago

Podcasts are not a good format for consuming serious information, at least in my experience. Neither are audiobooks. The problem with podcasts is they are light on real content and if it's on a technical topic and the format is having a guest be interviewed on it, the quality of information depends on the quality of questions and most people are not good at coming up interesting questions on unfamiliar topics on the spot. So you get very superficial questions and equally superficial answers. But podcasts are great for entertainment and zoning out. And for lonely people it's great to hear people talking. Darknet diaries is a good one though I don't listen consistently

timeon 4y ago
> not a good format for consuming serious information Yes, podcasts are reminding me 'the age of the feuilleton' from Hesses's Glass Bead Game.
Slippery_John 4y ago
I disagree, though it depends on the circumstances in which you're consuming them. If you're listening while you're doing something that is mentally engaging then of course it will be hard to absorb the information. But I'm not exactly taxing my brain when I'm walking my dog or sitting on the porch drinking coffee.
theshrike79 4y ago
There are good ones, but they require a proper host and environment. Steve O has had some interesting people open up about their issues, same with Jon Bernthal. Especially his episode with Shia LaBeouf was amazing. But these people are rare. They devolve too often into the host fawning over the guest. Nerdist podcast started doing this at one point.
- vchynarov 4y ago
  +1 on Jon Bernthal. I was very skeptical at first but he gets very unique guests such ex-gang members and policemen. Many popular podcasts just have guests who are obviously trying to promote a new Netflix special or book. He stutters and the outcome isn’t that polished but if you can adapt to that his podcast feels very authentic.

glenngillen 4y ago

I quite enjoyed Swindled. Not exactly on the lighter side, but usually stories I’ve never heard of before. With the type of research and structure you mentioned.

wink 4y ago

I noticed that I like podcasts just how I like blogs. Even if it's objectively great (as decided by the masses), I probably don't like it and can't stand listening to it for long. But if I stumble upon something I like to read or listen to, then I'll follow that blog/podcast for many years. I would in general even go so far as saying that listening to people talking is not my medium of choice (I also don't like audio books) - but I'd say I'm actually a fan of a select of few ones.

dieselgate 4y ago

My favorite podcasts are science Friday or stuff I’d hear on public radio for a short bit while driving. One-off interview podcasts can be good if looking more into a specific person but in general many podcasts seem like/wanna be a cult of personality

spiffytech 4y ago

Interestingly, these are exactly the traits that make podcasts appealing to me. It's fun to hear people talking about what they're interested in, or I get to hear people's personal experiences on a subject I care about (entrepreneurship, neurodivergence, software development). I'm here less for structured content than to expand my perspective on general experience and challenges of being in a given situation. For what it's worth, there are also lots of other formats besides "two dudes/dudettes talking": scripted drama, documentary, unscripted/situational comedy. I even listen to a guy critique classic computer science research papers.

digdugdirk 4y ago
Ooo... What podcast reviews classic compsci research papers?
- spiffytech 4y ago
  The Eric Normand Podcast, previously titled Thoughts on Functional Programming. Despite the name, he also dives into e.g., some classic OOP material too, as well as general programming paradigm commentary. https://ericnormand.me/podcast https://ericnormand.me/podcast A couple episodes you may be interested in: "In this episode, I excerpt from and comment on Allen Newell's and Herbert Simon's 1975 ACM Turing Award Lecture." https://ericnormand.me/podcast/computer-science-as-empirical-inquiry-symbols-and-search https://ericnormand.me/podcast/computer-science-as-empirical... "In this first episode of season 3, we analyze a great paper called Lisp: A language for stratified design. The paper asks the question "What is Lisp good for?" https://ericnormand.me/podcast/lisp-a-language-for-stratified-design https://ericnormand.me/podcast/lisp-a-language-for-stratifie... "We read one of the great articles by Alan Kay, inventor of Smalltalk, called The Early History of Smalltalk." https://ericnormand.me/podcast/the-early-history-of-smalltalk https://ericnormand.me/podcast/the-early-history-of-smalltal...
  - digdugdirk 4y ago
    Awesome, thanks!

sharkbird2 4y ago

For me, the lack of editing, scripting and structure is exactly what I find refreshing about podcasts. They feel more natural, more flawed, more raw, but therefore also more honest and more human. But to each their own. Not saying there's anything wrong at all with disliking podcasts for exactly these reasons, they're just not for everyone I suppose.

theshrike79 4y ago
There is a limit to "natural". If the hosts even slightly stay on topic, a few umms and aahs don't bother me. But when I start listening to something titled "X & Y talk about Z" and they tangent off to A, B and C. I just stop listening. My pet peeve is shows that have interviews with people and preface it with 30 minutes of "banter" that doesn't interest anyone who hasn't listened to the previous 420 episodes. Just have one episode with the catch-up part and one with just the interview, please.
- DoughnutHole 4y ago
  > My pet peeve is shows that have interviews with people and preface it with 30 minutes of "banter" that doesn't interest anyone who hasn't listened to the previous 420 episodes. Repeat listeners are most podcast producers' bread and butter, and those listeners tend to be invested in the hosts, and typically enjoy the banter. It's sort of the reverse of radio. In a radio show you want to pander to the widest audience - every show must stand alone and can't rely on the audience's familiarity with the host or past content. In a podcast there's no one tuning in at random because it's something interesting that's "on" at the time that they happen to be listening, so podcasters get by from cultivating and pandering to a dedicated fanbase, who then tend to enjoy content that benefits from a deep familiarity with the show. It sounds like you'd most enjoy "podcasts" that are really recordings of radio shows (99% Invisible, the many NPR podcasts etc).

rsynnott 4y ago

> podcasts' focus on guests (and hosts) Not all podcasts do that, though. I listen to about ten podcasts fairly regularly; one ("Behind the Bastards") has regular guests, though their purpose is largely to have someone for the host to tell a story to, two ("The Rest is History" and "The Rest is Politics") have occasional expert guests, on perhaps 10% of episodes, the remainder don't have guests at all.

theshrike79 4y ago

I don't listen to off the cuff podcasts at all. I used to listen to Tank Riot, for example. They had really interesting topics. But then it devolved into "we haven't seen each other for a month, so let's catch up while we're recording" and they got into endless unrelated tangents. My current list is only well-edited and produced stuff - No Such Thing as a Fish (facts, trivia, comedy) - 20kHz - audio production and sounds in general - 99 Percent Invisible - random trivia and deep-dives - More or Less - analysing statistics - Cautionary Tales - historical failures, they have actual radio play style stuff with actual name actors (Helena Bonham-Carter for example) And stuff I listen to on the background and usually fall asleep to: - Crowd Science - people as questions about science and the host interviews people who know about it - Every Little Thing - More random trivia stuff - 30 Animals that Made us Smarter - exactly what it says on the tin My tolerance for "let's turn on the mic and chat for three hours without any plan and publish it as a podcast" is pretty close to zero.

petepete 4y ago
- In Our Time (https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b006qykl) - nearly 1,000 episodes since the late 90s, covering history, science and literature. Different expert panel every week with some amazing reoccurring guests (Ian Stewart, Martin Palmer, Mary Beard, Angie Hobbs, Paul Cartledge, Caroline Crawford).
- zoltanse 4y ago
  Definitely my favourite podcast. The only other comparable one Revolutions by Mike Duncan.
  - kzrdude 4y ago
    Revolutions podcast was too in-depth for me (think, hundreds of episodes for each revolution). But I've been listening to his podcast-closing appendix (12 appendix episodes, that tells you something about being verbose), and it's fun :)
- pjc50 4y ago

dopidopHN 4y ago

in some places radios is still done by professionals, and it shows. In the US outside of NPR I stuggle to find anything of values. Example : Most show on France Culture.

massysett 4y ago

I listen to podcasts that take a lot of production. One favorite of mine is "American History Tellers." It is well edited and tightly scripted and thoroughly researched. Check out a big podcast producer like Wondery. They approach podcasts with production and professionalism. It takes a team to produce a good podcast. If a professional podcast is like network TV, the podcasts you're describing are like the old public access channel on cable. They're both the same medium, sure, but they're in different leagues entirely. I don't listen to the podcasts with a random person with a mic chatting about what he thinks is interesting; that would indeed be boring and a waste of time.

nmcfarl 4y ago

I could not get into podcasts until I started listening at 1.5x. That changed everything for me, the information density was finally high enough that they were worth listening to, and over time I upped the speed to 2.5x (mostly). Also I’ve started listening audiobooks faster (though not as fast), and that has greatly increased my consumption of audiobooks, even when measured in hours listened. If you’ve not tried it I would heartily recommend it - I really didn’t think it would matter before I tried it.

bilsbie 4y ago
It would be so cool in the future if AI could predict which parts are harder to understand and which parts are fluff and dynamically adjust the speed for you. I’d love 50% speed for tough concepts but 300% for the banter and their dumb stories. Maybe a product idea actually? Feel free to run with it.
- amelius 4y ago
  And auto-rewind when your eyes glaze over.
- jononomo 4y ago
  50% speed is impossible to listen to. It will not help your comprehension.
  - bilsbie 4y ago
    Maybe just strategic pauses then.
  - drusepth 4y ago
    I think there's large segments of many podcasts that'd be nice to just get through, where comprehension isn't inherently necessary. :)
jononomo 4y ago
I've begun doing this as well. Also, as soon as one of the guests makes some off-topic joke and I sense that there is going to be some banter before they get back to the point I just hit the fast-forward-30-seconds button.

ChicagoBoy11 4y ago

I'd give "In Our Time" from the BBC, and Econtalk, by Ross Roberts, a try if I were you. They both follow the traditional podcast format with a host and guest, but there is a lot of work done by the hosts ahead of time to ensure your time is well spent. Definitely high-density content.

brightball 4y ago

I never listened at all until last year when somebody pointed me to Darknet Diaries. Now I’m completely hooked. It’s hard to find good ones though. I haven’t had as much luck.

layer8 4y ago

In addition to the In Our Time suggestion by a sibling comment, I can recommend Sean Carroll’s Mindscape podcast (https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/ https://www.preposterousuniverse.com/podcast/). And for some good fun (and some occasional new insight), the Soft Skills Engineering podcast (https://softskills.audio/ https://softskills.audio/).